Diaries of a former Le Cordon Bleu Paris Student.

January 02, 2006

Bustling Barcelona

Barcelona, land of Gaudi, Mango, rabid soccer fans, and the 1992 summer Olympics.

Any foodie would fall hard for a place where there's a huge marketplace smack-dab in the middle of the touristy center of town.

Mercat La Boqueria was a maze of seafood, produce, cheese, egg, and meat stands. Thank goodness we had rented an apartment that came with a kitchen. It was so much fun looking for interesting ingredients and being able to actually buy and cook them. Granted, our homecooked dinner ended up being devastatingly simple- frittatas, sausage, and fresh bread, but the fact that we got to handpick everything made the meal taste that much better.

Mushrooms that stained our hands yellow...

fresh eggs from the "egg lady"...

and pork sausage...

...became dinner!Grilled sausages with a frittata made with mushrooms, tomatoes, and chives.

The market had so much more to offer:

Olive Bars

Gorgeous Seafood

How can you not love a stand where they wear this?

Stumbling across great restaurants and tapas bars were easy and fun. Two of our favorites:

Taller de Tapas was a little yuppie, more upscale than most of the other tapas places in Barcelona. The menu was also in English, prices slightly higher to match the nicer environment than most tapas bars here. Still, we loved the food and the ease of ordering at this restaurant.

Fried Baby Squid

Chickpeas stewed with pancetta and spinach- I've never had chickpeas this flavorful or creamy before.

My absolute favorite meal in Barcelona was in the La Boqueria market, at one of their tapas bars there. Pinotxo bar bought fresh ingredients from the market and cooked completely seasonally. No set menu, just point or ask them what's good. I think I made a mistake and asked for a portion of something the cook was making for his own lunch, but I couldn't resist, as it reminded me of a dish that the Chinese make with little whitebait.

We also had great Mexican food, 8 Euro three-course lunches that included beer, and even Fresh Choice-like salad bar in Barcelona. Raw vegetables and make -your- own-salads! How I miss thee!

With prices averaging 50% less than Parisian restaurants, it was a nice change eating out without feeling like I was creating a hole in my pocketbook. And with weather that averaged 8 degrees C higher than Paris, life just seemed a little rosier during my first Thanksgiving away from home.

7 Comments

I used to go to Spain every chance I got for the pleasure of eating and drinking at such low prices. If you can make it to Madrid and Basque country, I highly recommend it! Glad you're getting some much needed vacation.

I´m glad you enjoyed Taller de Tapas so much, it´s very nice to read a positive apreciation of our culinary efforts on the web. I love your web page and shall keep up to date on your recipes. Let me know if you come back to Barcelona.